Category: Assignment 2 (ESSAY) (Page 4 of 6)
First Graded and Typed Essay for UNIT 1
Chloe White
ENG 1121 – D439
Prof. Schmerler
3/1/19
âFree to be Meâ
I am a young women, and I also happen to be black, and because of the color of my skin, not just me but everyone else who share the same color I do arenât treated the way we want to be treated. But, that’s not what I will be talking about. Iâm not gonna talk about race and freedom, Iâm going to talk about myself. Something my mom, grandma,aunts and uncles donât know about, my sexuality.
When I think of freedom, I think of being able to do things that others wish they could do. People have more freedom than others, as for me my freedom is controlled by my parents and religion. Now growing up as a Jehovah witness I was restricted from doing what other kids got to do, I couldnât celebrate Christmas, Halloween, and thanksgiving. I couldnât even celebrate my own birthday, it wasnât a special day, it was just a regular day, but because I was a child then I coped with it because I had to listen to my parents. Â But as I got older I realized why I never really felt attracted to guys it was because I was gay, but living in a household where my mom constantly says how disgusting gays are especially when it shows on tv even though she has gay friends it is hard for me to be myself. And because I live under my moms boyfriends roof Iâm not free to be who I am because of them. Therefore I am not entirely free, I canât choose a certain hairstyle I want, I canât dress the way I want to, itâs not because they tell me not to itâs because they donât know my secret and one thing can send red flags to my mother and her boyfriend. So because I am not free to be who I am I am not happy.
Being black I donât have freedom because of the color of my skin, but even if the world today fully accept black people and we have our freedom, I wouldnât be free because of who I am and what I like.
Je-Vonni S. Williams
ENG 1121-D439
Prof. Schmerler
Mar 1, 2019
Free World?
Today we pride ourselves on saying that we live in a free world. Despite having negative inclinations and responses to different races, religions and even genders. As humans we have a tendency of having negative feelings towards things, we do not understand without trying to learn about them. So, how do we expect for persons who subscribe to these categories to even feel some sense of freedom with in their communities? According to the oxford dictionary, freedom refers to the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants. So, with that being stated, are we all truly free today in our so called âfree worldâ? I think to truly be free is to live within a society that respects otherâs differences. Not accept but respect these differences, we canât all subscribe to everything within our societies. This is so, because we are all thought different things during our infancy. However, we can all respect these differences, as an aim to make everyone truly feel free as well as keeping harmony among ourselves.
When I moved to this country my dad would always warn me about how I would carry my self outside of the house. Being a teenager from the islands I never understood that these warnings were the result of the years of stereotypes made surrounding the black male, and how carrying myself a certain way can even be harmful to me. To be more specific, my dad would always warn me about leaving the house with my hoodie over my head. It was never my aim to seem cool or hood while wearing a hoodie. Itâs just that it provided an extra layer of protection against the bitter cold of New York that I was still getting a custom to. As a result, I was not able to enjoy the freedom of wearing my clothes how I felt comfortable and even certain accessories. Consequently, because of a stereotype that made to generalize a certain race. So, Now tell me am I truly free?
Life is the most beautiful yet tragic experience we are ever going to have. As a result, we all hold onto or believe in something that is higher than ourselves when the trials of life come our way. I think this is the driving force behind religions. We are all taught different religions during our development as children and we all believe that each of our religions is the correct form of belief. As a result, we may not respect the other religions of the world. Simply because we are ignorant to what is being taught within these religions, consequently drawing inaccurate conclusions. For example, I believe the events of nine even has created if not increased a stereotype amongst Muslims and Islam. This stereotype is that all Muslims and persons of Islam are dangerous people and even terrorists. But my question to you is should persons of that religion feel scared to practice their religion because of the actions of a group of people that subscribe to their religion? I subscribe to Christianity, but I do have friends that practice Islam and they are some of the most peaceful persons I know. If we are to make the general population of this religion feel uncomfortable to practice their religion, are they truly free today in our âfree worldâ?
Lastly, today we live in a world that is flooded with vehicles. To date, having a driverâs license and learning to drive has become as basic skill, as basic as learning to cook and clean. On 26 September 2017, King Salman issued an order to allow women to drive in Saudi Arabia. Consequently, women that lived in Saudi Arabia were not allowed to drive many years before that. I could these women truly feel free if they did not have the freedom to decide whether or not they wanted to drive? I conclusion do we really live in a free world?
Luis Espinoza
Section D439
Professor Schmerler
03/01/2019
    Many people may interpret freedom differently. Some may view it on a positive note, some in a negative; Or maybe for some, it maybe a situation where the positive of freedom turns on a person to become a negative outcome. I believe freedom comes along with when one matures and knows what they want in life. If a person doesnât have a drive and determination to really do anything with themselves, then they may end up with a limited freedom mindset. With Malcolm X, he had the freedom to learn but due to being in jail he wasnât literally free. I believe confinement, ultimately, is more mental/spiritual rather than physical.
    I believe confinement can be determined more mental rather than physical due to the fact Malcolm X had a mentality where he wanted to learn. Had he not had this mentality he wouldâve possibly never went out his way in order to get a hold of self education. He would always be amused with what he learned. In prison, he would act like he would be asleep just to be able to finish a book. This shows his determination in reading and learning new ideas even while in jail.  Malcolm X was in a cell writing words and punctuation he didnât know how to use then but was using them effectively once out of jail.
    In my situation, I canât really say I taught myself to do anything. I mean maybe the little things but anything big? Probably never. I always had supportive spirits around me in order to learn what I was interested in. How?  Well I always enjoyed cars as a child, so come time to apply for High Schools, I was denied into my first rounds that I had put on my list. Being that I was going to end up in the second round, I was astonished there was a High School actually  called automotive. Fast forward to my senior year, I ended up playing football, and learned how to work on cars. I was offered internships in repair shops to satisfy my automotive needs. Football, had many factors. Many supporters around, wonderful coaching staff to teach me new thing I wasnât used to. In some way this relates to Malcolm X in the terms where he went out and searched and did research on things he was astonished by. In my situation, I was always amused by cars, so I went out of my way to get put into an environment to be around what I truly loved and enjoyed. Did it have itâs negative factors? Of course. Automotive my freshmen year, was probably the top worst high schools if not in Brooklyn then in the whole New York City. Being surrounded by mostly males in my 4 years, allowed me to view things in a different perspective being that I was mostly always around females in my family. This opportunity I had to be free allowed me to maintain a knowledge I never thought Iâd leave this High School with. I was able to work on my own car, perform my own workouts, boost my confidence, and break out my shell since I was so shy heading into High School.  The automotive program had allowed me to graduate with an endorsed diploma and a step closer into the MTA career.
    Something difficult I found, that everyone found so simple was probably the fact  I couldnât lift a 45-pound bench press bar. Yes this may seem like nothing, but this came a long way throughout High School. There was one day where it was raining outside and the team had to go to the weightroom. We were being tested on reps meaning how many you could do in a row. I knew I couldnât lift it but I still tried. Of course, resulted in zero. Fast forward to senior year, after a hard working dedicated summer, there I was benching 265 pounds. All it took was slight interest and know what would be at the end of the tunnel if I put my mind to it. No, I donât give the credit to myself. I give the credit to ones who devoted their times for me to improve. I believe if you have freedom and people that will support you along the way things will end up turning out positive. Working out is part of my daily life now, challenging myself and dedication were probably the keys to getting to this point. I believe the word âfreedomâ really defines your mentality. A weak minded person would believe âworst school in New York City?â  What Will I be learning there?â âIs it even worth it to try bench pressing this 45 pound weight?â Malcolm X mentality was trying to bench that 45 would lead him to somewhere and lead him more knowledgeable on something he enjoyed doing.
    Thus, I believe if youâre a strong minded person, no matter the situation, you can accomplish whatever you enjoy doing or find astonishing. You may or may not need support during the situation, but it all depends on the effort giving towards the opportunity. If you have a strong gut feeling something will come out positive and your mentality sticks to these things you enjoy doing, you have basically found your freedom. So to wrap it up, a strong mentality, support, effort and determination can lead towards freedom. Yes this may sound cliche, but it may lead to the freedom. Sometimes you donât know why you do some things til the end and thatâs where you go back to realize, thatâs why I was told to do that one thing.
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